I propose to take Questions Nos. 696, 717, 719 and 720 together.
The EU Short Term Rental (STR) Regulation was adopted by the EU on 11 April 2024 and is applicable from 20 May 2026. This Regulation lays down harmonised rules on the collection and exchange of data on short term rental services for member states, hosts providing short-term accommodation rental services, and online platforms that offer services to hosts providing short-term accommodation rental services within the EU.
The Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment has drafted the Short Term Letting and Tourism (STLT) Bill General Scheme in full alignment with the STR Regulation. The introduction of the STLT Bill will provide a more effective legal and administrative basis to regulate short-term lettings. The proposed STLT Bill will provide the statutory basis for the establishment of a register for short term lets in Ireland and for the implementation of the new EU STR. Following the approval received from Government on the 15 April to generally preclude new planning permissions for short-term lets in large towns and cities, my Department is working to give effect to this decision.
In 2019, my Department brought in Regulations, (SI 235/2019), to provide for new arrangements for Short Term Lets within Rent Pressure Zones (RPZ). The regulations provided for the following:
• Short term letting is defined as the letting of a house or apartment, or part of a house or apartment, for any period not exceeding 14 days.
• Homesharing (the letting of a room or rooms in a person’s principal private residence) will continue to be permissible on an unrestricted basis and be exempted from the new planning requirements.
• Homesharers will be allowed to sub-let their entire principle private residence (house or apartment) on a short term basis for a cumulative period of 90 days where they are temporarily absent from their home. Where the 90 day threshold is exceeded, change of use planning permission will be required.
• Where a person owns a property in a RPZ which is not their principal private residence and intends to let it for short term letting purposes, s/he will be required to apply for a change of use planning permission unless the property already has a specific planning permission to be used for tourism or short-term letting purposes.
With the nationwide extension of RPZs in June 2025, the legislative requirement to gain planning permission for short-term letting use, as outlined above, has also been extended nationwide.
Following the approval received from Government on the 15 April 2025 to generally preclude new planning permissions for Short-Term Lets in large towns and cities, and to ensure that there is a clear view, both at national level and local authority level, as to the overall policy approach to determining planning applications for Short Term Lets, my Department is currently developing a National Planning Statement (NPS) for the short-term letting sector to supplement and support the introduction of the STLT Bill. It will consider a variety of factors, such as existing planning legislation, the long term housing need in the local authority area, the location of the proposed short term let and balancing housing need with the potential impact on tourism and economic development.
It should be noted that in advance of the publication of the NPS, local authorities can continue to make decisions on applications for change of use in respect of short-term letting properties. The decision of the local authority will be informed by local policy contained in the city and county development plans and local area plans, where applicable.
A recent Circular SPI 01/2026 Short-Term Letting and the Planning System (www.gov.ie/en/department-of-housing-local-government-and-heritage/circulars/spi-012026-short-term-letting-and-the-planning-system/) issued by my Department on 23 January 2026, to all local authorities, set out the current legislative and policy framework for the regulation of short-term letting.
